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The meager turnout at the Unite the Right rally in D.C. on Sunday offered real confirmation that the alt-right’s organizing capabilities have seriously atrophied in the wake of last year’s Charlottesville rally as a consequence of both infighting and resistance. Jason Kessler, an alt-right leader and one of the organizers of both rallies, told the National Park Service that between 100 and 400 demonstrators could be expected to show up in front of the White House. The violence that broke out around Charlottesville’s rally and the killing of counterprotester Heather Heyer led city officials and counterorganizers alike to fear the worst in the lead-up to this weekend. The city’s emergency level was heightened, and widely criticized provisions to escort Kessler’s demonstrators in private Metro cars were made. More than three dozen activist groups signed on to participate in counterprotest efforts, all but ensuring that those demonstrators would be vastly outnumbered. Even so, the extent to which Kessler’s rally was dwarfed was a surprise. All of about 30 ralliers ultimately came for the event, which proved nearly impossible to see or hear behind the thousands of chanting demonstrators and throngs of journalists who packed into Lafayette Square for the big showdown. By 5:30 p.m., the time Kessler had scheduled the rally to begin, both Kessler’s posse and most counterdemonstrators had started off home in the rain.

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